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Pedagogical love in Finland and Australia: a study of refugee children and their teachers

  • Mervi Kaukko
    ,
  • Jane Wilkinson
    ,
  • Ravi Ks Kohli
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

After claiming asylum, refugee children work to re-build their worlds across three dimensions: safety, belonging, and success. This article examines the pedagogical practices that support this work arguing that a key, but under-examined practice draws on what we have termed pedagogical love. Building on a qualitative Finnish-Australian study, we suggest that as refugee students enter schools in their host countries, pedagogical love can be created through teacher-student interactions in a range of ways despite limited shared language. Later, pedagogical practices that foster a nurturing classroom environment and help students to build a sense of belonging become increasingly important. As students settle in their schools and societies, teachers showing a belief both in the child and their contribution to their new society are crucial. We understand that these actions may be described as teachers’ professional duty of care. Yet our findings show that teachers went beyond this duty by opening their minds and hearts to the students’ lived conditions, engaging with their histories, and constantly shaping their pedagogy accordingly. These practices, we argue, are forms of pedagogical love.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 731-747 (17 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Pedagogy, Culture and Society (Volume 30, Issue 5)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 22/12/2020
  • Published - 05/01/2021

Publication status

Published - 05/01/2021

ISSN

1468-1366

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/624752
  • Scopus: 85099068592

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